Navy Chief meets Manmohan Singh to resolve pay-related issues

Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late on Friday evening and brought up the core issues dogging the defence personnel in the government-notified Sixth Pay Commission report.

New Delhi, Sept 5 : Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late on Friday evening and brought up the "core issues" dogging the defence personnel in the government-notified Sixth Pay Commission report.

After the Defence Minister, it is the Prime Minister's doors that the Armed Forces have knocked for resolving issues regarding "disparities" and "lowering of status" in the Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC).

Mehta, in his capacity as the Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman, went to brief Singh on his recent overseas visit to Japan and South Korea, when he brought up the pay issues and later handed over a written representation from the Armed Forces, Defnece Ministry sources said.

"The Armed Forces have full faith in the Union Cabinet and we want only the political leadership to consider the issues of disparities and lowering of status of defence officers and men, and not leave it to the Anomalies Committee," sources said.

The Navy chief, sources said, apprised Singh of the four important issues that the defence forces had flagged in the notified CPC report.

"The notification of the CPC report has unwillingly upset the existing relativities between the defence forces and other central government Class-I officers, including the Indian Police Service (IPS).

"This has not only resulted in lowering of their status, especially in the middle ranks, but also has an effect on the organisational structure in various fields where they work together," the Navy chief was quoted as stating in his written representation to the Prime Minister.

ANI